According to the results of a recent AIDS-oriented study performed by an international team of researchers, black individuals present a gene variant which, while ensuring a higher level of protection against some types of malaria, increases the body’s vulnerability to HIV infection by 40 percent.

The study leader was Dr. Sunil Ahuja, a professor of infectious diseases from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The results and compiled data were published in Cell Host & Microbe on Wednesday.

In their attempt to find an explanation for the high frequency of AIDS cases within the world’s black population, the scientists have identified this subtle genetic trait (with 60 percent of African Americans and 90 percent of Africans). It is believed that this is the reason for the disproportionate global share of recorded AIDS cases.

Statistics say that while the Sub-Saharan Africa covers about ten percent of the world’s population, it brings together 70 percent of today’s HIV infection cases. A somewhat similar situation can be observed with the US: while African Americans represent 12 percent of the population, they account for roughly 50 percent of HIV infections.

According to Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, the reason for this obvious imbalance is not necessarily behavior-related; gay black men, as he exemplifies, do not display a higher risk behavior than gay white men.

Following a thorough analysis, the scientists concluded that about 11 percent of the 25 million HIV infection cases in Sub-Saharan Africa could have been caused by the recently-found gene variant alone.